Wolf is perhaps the biggest name in 7.62x39 - it comes from Russia, it's non-corrosive, and people seem to have good experiences with it. It's what I use, and it's quite common.

Don't know squat about that other brand :) .

JA

January 22, 2004, 10:05 PM

The only difference is the headstamp on the cases and the printing on the box. They use the same bullets,primers,and powder. They are loaded to the same specifications.
The question on which one should be answered by which one can you get cheaper.

DMK

January 22, 2004, 10:28 PM

Why don't you buy a box of each and try them in your rifle?

I get very different results in accuracy between them. Both are completely reliable and well known brands though.

eatatjoes

January 22, 2004, 11:10 PM

just to share (http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=4&f=54&t=56018)

i got better accuracy out of my AMD with barnaul and better accuracy out of my Chi-Com SKS with wolf.

Blain

January 22, 2004, 11:50 PM

The only difference is the headstamp on the cases and the printing on the box. They use the same bullets,primers,and powder. They are loaded to the same specifications

Is this true?

Dain Bramage

January 23, 2004, 11:00 AM

Interesting, Eatatjoes. I also had better accuracy with Wolf (154g SP) than Barnaul (122g FMJ) in my Yugo SKS. However, I have not tried them in my AMD.

gunmonkey

January 23, 2004, 02:41 PM

Does it matter?
7.62x39 isn't the most accurate of cartridges anyway.
Shoot whatever is cheaper IMO.
I've shot both through my SAR-1 and they all went boom and hit the target.

BTW: I just bought the newer Wolf ammo and it has almost no laquer on it now, as shown in that picture.

Gary G23

January 23, 2004, 04:42 PM

If it were me I'd ask this question over at http://www.ak-47.net.

Correia

January 23, 2004, 04:45 PM

I've gone through a couple cases of each. No problem with either. Accuracy is comparable. I buy which ever is cheaper. Currently I'm using Wolf because it was a couple bucks less per case.

AJ Dual

January 23, 2004, 05:31 PM

Barnual (i.e. Barnual) and Wolf (Izshvesk?) are just the two major post USSR equivalents to Lake City. Now Russia has turned them over to semi-independant semi-commerical operation to make ends meet.

JA

January 23, 2004, 09:35 PM

Pulled the bullets on the ammo listed below.
The Barnaul and Ulyanovsk fmj ammo same bullet,powder,and primer.
The Barnaul, Wolf,and Ulyanovsk Sapsan hp ammo all have the same powder and primer. The Silver Bear hp ammo has a silver primer. The Wolf and Silver Bear have boat tail hp bullets and the Barnaul and Sapsan have flat base hp bullets.
All the ammo have the same stick powder with the granules being the same size and color.
So as you can see it is pretty much a toss up when it comes to choosing which Russian ammo to buy.

The Wolf and Silver Bear have boat tail hp bullets and the Barnaul and Sapsan have flat base hp bullets. That's interesting info. I have never recovered my bullets. Since I buy HP x39(it's the often same price), that may account for some of the accuract differences I see between these rounds.

albanian

January 24, 2004, 01:41 PM

I have been shooting Wolff out of my AK and SKSs but at the last gunshow I bought a case of Barnaul because I heard it was better ammo. I heard the 9x18 Barnaul was better than the Wolff 9x18 so I figuired that maybe the 7.62x39mm ammo might be better also.

I haven't shot the Barnaul yet but I did open the case up and look at the rounds. They do look almost exactly like the Wolff. I paid a few $ more for the Barnaul but I really had no complants about the Wolff ammo in my SKSs. I have not had one jam so if this Barnaul jams my SKSs, I won't be buying it again.

I have to try this stuff and report back on how it preforms.

TooTaxed

January 24, 2004, 03:57 PM

You can get the brands in FMJ, soft point, and HP. All brands shoot about the same in my SKS, but I seem to get a tad tighter 100-yd groups with the holow point.

The SKS is a fun gun, easy to operate, and I find I'm firing mine a lot! Have learned that the aftermarket 20-round magazine mine came with is an abomination in prone and bench shooting...have just bought a 10-round mag ($5) and a shell deflector ($4) from CDNN...now I wont bang up my long scope!:p

JA

January 24, 2004, 06:28 PM

Y'all may find this interesting I pulled the bullets from a random 10rds out of a 20rd box and did some measuring. Note the inconsistant -
powder charge weights
bullet weights
bullet lengths
The bullet diameters are strange. The rear .003" of the bullet measures .3105-.311" but the rest measures .309" till it starts to taper to a point. To put this into perspective the paper your printer uses is .004" thick. So only a very small percentige of the bullet that engauges the rifling in the bore is the correct size the rest of the bullet is .002" smaller than it should be. Bullet design coupled with the inconsistantcies in powder charge weight and bullet weight is the reason for the Russian ammo's inaccuracy. I have chronographed several brands of Russian ammo in 7.62x39mm and 5.45x39mm. The spread from the fastest to the slowest out of the same 20 rd box is in the 150 feet per second range. To put it into perspective most American ammo has a 30-50 fps spread.
The SKS and AK rifles are not tack drivers but using the cheap Russian incosistant ammo doesnt' help.
http://www.gunsnet.net/album/data//500/966Monarch_7-med.jpg
http://www.gunsnet.net/album/data//500/9667_62x39_Uly-med.JPG

i'm not sure how good american ammo really is because i've never tried it, but after reading through the above link it makes me wonder if it's worth the price.

JA

January 24, 2004, 07:14 PM

Having pulled the bullets from Remington and Winchester fmj ammo both had cosistant powder charges. Remington was loaded with .308" bullets and Winchester with .310" bullets. The Remington was worse than Russian ammo shooting groups at 100 yards. The Winchester would beat them both with 1" tighter groups than the best Remington or Russian ammo could do.

Fatelvis

January 25, 2004, 05:59 PM

JA, I have to say, I admire your "thoroughness". (If thats a word)!

JA

January 26, 2004, 02:52 AM

Thanks, most people use "anal retentive" to discribe my methods.

Sharpshooter223

January 26, 2004, 09:14 AM

Well I can vouch for the wolf ammo. Got a case in the other day and yesterday went out and burned 100 rounds at 25 and 100 yards. Never jammed once, consistantly shot 1/2 and 3/4" at 25 and shot 2.5-3" at 100 yards. This was also done with iron sights am sure a scope would have been better. Oh and that was with the Chinese SKS with the 122 gr wolf HP.

goon

January 26, 2004, 01:09 PM

What about the stuff that comes in the 700 round spam cans? I have been thinking about trying some of that when I get some more money. Who makes it and how is it compared to the others?
Thanks

JA

January 26, 2004, 01:30 PM

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ctd/product.asp?dept%5Fid=20221&sku=AMM%2D637&imgid=&mscssid=4DP88SNXEQ798LWEH292W3X1N94T73P3
This is made by Ulyanovsk and is the same ammo in my above post. All the ammo packed in tins currently for sale is just regular Russian production ammo, nothing special. The whole idea is it is packed in a tin for long term storage.